cardinal numeral

plural cardinal numerals

1. grammarA word used to represent a cardinal number.

   In Latin most cardinal numerals through 100 are indeclinable adjectives.

   2005 — F. M. Wheelock, Wheelock’s Latin, 6th ed. revised (New York: Harper Resources, 2005), p.97

   4 more examples

   Cardinal Numerals, are thoſe which expreſs the Number of things, as One, Two, Three, Four; [...]

   1706, Edward Phillips, compiler, J[ohn] K[ersey the younger], “Numerals”, in The New World of Words: Or, Universal English Dictionary. […], 6th edition, London: […] J. Phillips, […]; N. Rhodes, […]; and J. Taylor, […], →OCLC, column 1

   Numbers may be considered under their divisions — Cardinal, Ordinal, and Indefinite Numerals.

   1872, Richard Morris, Historical outlines of English accidence, page 110

   The cardinal numeral ‘one’ occurs in the singular and is declined like bogàt.

   1993, William W. Derbyshire, A Basic Reference Grammar of Slovene, Columbus, Ohio: Slavica Publishers, Inc., page 56

   Numerals cut across the division between syntax and morphology: cardinal numerals expressing numbers below 100 are single words, while those expressing higher numbers are syntactically composite.

   2002, Laurie Bauer, Rodney Huddleston, “Lexical word-formation”, in The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, page 1716